Eight months after a cyanide scare briefly...

CHILEAN GRAPES.

November 17, 1989

NEW YORK — CHILEAN GRAPES. Eight months after a cyanide scare briefly halted the import of Chilean fruit, some researchers believe that the poison found in grapes was introduced after they arrived in the United States, a newspaper reported Thursday. The Wall Street Journal quoted researchers as saying that if the grapes had been injected before their two-week voyage from Chile, they would have shriveled before they arrived. The newspaper said researchers at the University of California at Davis found that four hours after they injected cyanide into grapes, cyanide levels matched the amounts found by FDA chemists. That suggests the grapes were injected after they were unloaded and in FDA hands but before they were tested, the newspaper said. An FDA spokesman rejected the Journal account.